Guest Editorial–Kingdom of the Blind

July 28, 2018 3:43 am

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We get letters from people thanking us for helping them to see things in a different way. Well, we try. But we’ve all heard about the kingdom of the blind, where the one-eyed man is king. Well, we realize that in this particular kingdom, even that one eye doesn’t have to be very good. And also that men have existed who had two sharp eyes.

We also get letters congratulating us on our courage. And of course, they want to remain anonymous.And then, other people praise us for our integrity or honesty or some other quality.

It’s always nice to be praised, particularly for qualities that you don’t have. “Always compliment a plain woman on her beauty, and a beautiful woman on her brains,” Lord Chesterfield said. Or something along that line.

We don’t put out this newspaper because we’re courageous. We just want the truth out there. And as for integrity, well,wewouldbeonlytoohappy to turn out some kind of best seller like STARS, butpart way through, we’re sure to get this urge to jab the neighborhood council or some other sacred institution and there goes our bestseller.

Or honesty. Sure, we think we’re more honest than other publications, but so what? Who doesn’t think he’s honest? Is there a man in the world who doesn’t pride himself on his honesty? Has there ever been a liar who didn’t believe his own lies? Even newspaper reporters sometimes imagine that they are being honest. We have enough gall to pride ourselves on our honesty but it takes a lot out of it when we realize that every other ass prides himself on the same thing.

No, we put out this newspaper for the same reason that little children do things impulsively. Because we’re alive. That’s all. Because we’re still alive.